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Evidence Project Final Report

EVID4 Evidence Project Final Report (Rev. 06/11) Page 1 of 44

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NoteIn line with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Defra aims to place the results of its completed research projects in the public domain wherever possible. The Evidence Project Final Report is designed to capture the information on the results and outputs of Defra-funded research in a format that is easily publishable through the Defra websiteAn Evidence Project Final Report must be completed for all projects.

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Project identification

1. Defra Project code FO0457

2. Project title

Use of Refrigeration in UK Soft Drinks Supply Chain

3. Contractororganisation(s)

Jacobs (formerly SKM Enviros)

54. Total Defra project costs £ 22,800(agreed fixed price)

5. Project: start date................ January 2014

end date................. April 2014


6. It is Defra’s intention to publish this form. Please confirm your agreement to do so...................................................................................YES NO (a) When preparing Evidence Project Final Reports contractors should bear in mind that Defra intends that

they be made public. They should be written in a clear and concise manner and represent a full account of the research project which someone not closely associated with the project can follow.Defra recognises that in a small minority of cases there may be information, such as intellectual property or commercially confidential data, used in or generated by the research project, which should not be disclosed. In these cases, such information should be detailed in a separate annex (not to be published) so that the Evidence Project Final Report can be placed in the public domain. Where it is impossible to complete the Final Report without including references to any sensitive or confidential data, the information should be included and section (b) completed. NB: only in exceptional circumstances will Defra expect contractors to give a "No" answer.In all cases, reasons for withholding information must be fully in line with exemptions under the Environmental Information Regulations or the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

(b) If you have answered NO, please explain why the Final report should not be released into public domain

Executive Summary7. The executive summary must not exceed 2 sides in total of A4 and should be understandable to the

intelligent non-scientist. It should cover the main objectives, methods and findings of the research, together with any other significant events and options for new work.

The study investigated the use of refrigeration systems in the UK soft drinks supply chain. The main aim of the study was to quantify the carbon footprint of refrigeration systems used in the UK soft drinks sector and to identify the opportunities to reduce this footprint.Refrigeration is used throughout the soft drinks supply chain to preserve raw materials, support manufacturing processes and to provide cold drinks at point of use. Refrigeration systems have two types of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission which are (a) direct emissions, caused by leakage of refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP) and (b) indirect emissions, related to the electricity consumed by refrigeration systems. Total refrigeration emissions of GHGs from the UK soft drink supply chain are estimated to be 1.5 million tonnes CO2 per year. The carbon footprint is dominated by emissions from retail and food service, as illustrated in Figure ES.1. These parts of the supply chain represent 92% of the total emissions. Manufacturing plants represent 4% of emissions and cooling in domestic refrigerators a further 3%. The remaining 1% is mainly for chilled transport of raw materials. Energy related indirect emissions are dominant, representing 93% of total emissions, as illustrated in Figure ES.2


Figure ES.3 illustrates the spread of CO2 emissions across the soft drinks supply chain.

Drivers and barriers to emission reduction were examined. The new EU F-Gas Regulation is a key driver to reduce direct emissions and various UK Government policies including Climate Change Agreements and the Carbon Reduction Commitment will encourage indirect emission reductions. A lack of knowledge and understanding of the many opportunities for emission reduction is a key barrier, as is the fragmented nature of parts of the soft drinks market, especially in the food service sector.There are excellent opportunities for emission reduction. The direct emissions can be reduced by around 90% by 2030 and the energy related indirect emissions can be reduced by at least 50%. A total of 17 categories of emission reduction opportunity were identified and elaborated in the report. These are summarised in Table ES.1. There are excellent opportunities to improve the efficiency of bottle coolers. Avoiding use of coolers without doors is a crucial step – savings of 50% to 75% can be expected. The latest designs of coolers with doors use a variety of technologies to improve efficiency, e.g. LED lighting, EC fans and high efficiency compressors. Figure ES.4 illustrates the difference in efficiency between older designs (as used on 10 year old equipment still in the field) and the latest high efficiency coolers. Savings of 85% are possible if an old open fronted cooler is replaced with a best-in-class unit with doors and good control. When an old design with doors is replaced there is >50% saving potential.


Table ES.1: Summary of Emission Reduction Opportunities

Number Opportunity Description

Ret

ail a

nd F

ood

Serv

ice

Indirect Emissions

1 Doors on bottle coolers

2 Best practice purchase of new equipment

3 Improved control

4 Novel design opportunities

Direct Emissions -

Integrals

5 Selection of new systems with ultra-low GWP

6 Ensuring HFC recovery at end-of-life

Direct Emissions –

larger systems (condensing

units and packs)

7 Retrofill of HFC 404A systems with “medium” GWP alternative

8 Improved maintenance to reduce leakage

9 New equipment purchasing – choice of refrigerant

10 New equipment purchasing – leak tight design

Man

ufac

turin

g Pl

ants Indirect

Emissions

11 Ambient temperature carbonation

12 Improved sugar cooling systems

13 Pasteuriser cooling

14 Bottle blower cooling

15 General good practice for industrial refrigeration

Direct Emissions

16 New equipment purchasing

17 Retrofill of HFC 404A systems


Recommendations have been made to stimulate the uptake of the GHG emission reduction opportunities described in the study. There is a need to prepare targeted information aimed at (a) manufacturing plant operators and (b) retail and food service operators. This information should provide up to date guidance on relevant aspects of the new F-Gas Regulation (which will be main driver to reduce direct emissions) and guidance on the key energy efficiency opportunities. It is recommended that expert groups are brought together under the coordination of BSDA to discuss some of the technical opportunities available. Rapid technical developments are expected over the next few years in relation to both energy efficiency and new ultra-low GWP refrigerants. It is recommended that the soft drinks sector sets up a mechanism to monitor relevant developments and to disseminate information to appropriate contacts.


Project Report to Defra8. As a guide this report should be no longer than 20 sides of A4. This report is to provide Defra with details of

the outputs of the research project for internal purposes; to meet the terms of the contract; and to allow Defra to publish details of the outputs to meet Environmental Information Regulation or Freedom of Information obligations. This short report to Defra does not preclude contractors from also seeking to publish a full, formal scientific report/paper in an appropriate scientific or other journal/publication. Indeed, Defra actively encourages such publications as part of the contract terms. The report to Defra should include: the objectives as set out in the contract; the extent to which the objectives set out in the contract have been met; details of methods used and the results obtained, including statistical analysis (if appropriate); a discussion of the results and their reliability; the main implications of the findings; possible future work; and any action resulting from the research (e.g. IP, Knowledge Exchange).

Use of Refrigeration in UK Soft Drinks Supply ChainFINAL REPORT

Version 115th May 2014

SKM EnvirosNew City CourtSt. Thomas StreetLondonSE1 9RS

Web: www.skmenviros.com

COPYRIGHT: The concepts and information contained in this document are the property of Sinclair Knight Merz (Europe) Ltd. Use or copying of this document in whole or in part without the written permission of Sinclair Knight Merz (Europe) Ltd constitutes an infringement of copyright.LIMITATION: This report has been prepared on behalf of and for the exclusive use of Sinclair Knight Merz (Europe) Ltd’s Client, and is subject to and issued in connection with the provisions of the agreement between Sinclair Knight Merz (Europe) Ltd and its Client. Sinclair Knight Merz (Europe) Ltd accepts no liability or responsibility whatsoever for or in respect of any use of or reliance upon this report by any third party.

ContentsExecutive Summary 11. Introduction 71.1. Project Background 71.2. Project Objectives 71.3. Structure of Report 82. Global Warming Impact of Refrigeration 92.1. Types of Global Warming Impact 92.2. Opportunities to Reduce Direct Impact 102.3. Opportunities to Reduce Indirect Impact 11


3. Refrigeration in the Soft Drinks Supply Chain 123.1. Supply Chain Structure 123.2. Types of Soft Drink 123.3. Raw Materials Production 143.4. Processing Operations at Manufacturing Plants 143.5. Transport to Point of Sale 163.6. Point of Consumption Cooling 163.7. Impact of Packaging 203.8. Temperature Requirements 204. Quantification of Carbon Footprint 224.1. Basis of carbon footprint analysis 224.2. Results of carbon footprint analysis 234.3. Supply Chain Analysis 285. Drivers and Barriers 305.1. Drivers 305.2. Barriers 316. Emission Reduction – Retail and Food Service 336.1. Small Integral Systems – Indirect Emissions (Energy) 346.2. Small Integral Systems – Direct Emissions (Refrigerant) 386.3. Opportunities for Larger Systems in Retail and Food Service 397.Emission Reduction – Manufacturing Plants427.1. Manufacturing Plants – Indirect Emissions (Energy) 427.2. Manufacturing Plants – Direct Emissions (Refrigerant) 458.Key Findings and Recommendations 47Appendix A: Literature Review Sources 51Appendix B: Temperature Maps 52Appendix C: Glossary of Terms 54

Executive Summary1) This report provides the outputs of a study into the use of refrigeration systems in the UK soft drinks

supply chain. The study was carried out for Defra by Jacobs (formerly SKM Enviros) in the period January to April 2014. The main aim of the study was to quantify the carbon footprint of refrigeration systems used in the UK soft drinks sector and to identify the opportunities to reduce this footprint.

Background (see Sections 2 and 3)2) Refrigeration is used throughout the soft drinks supply chain to preserve raw materials, support

manufacturing processes and to provide cold drinks at point of use.3) The study has included a review of numerous references in the literature that show there are

excellent opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from refrigeration systems. Section 2 describes the two types of GHG emissions which are (a) direct emissions, caused by leakage of refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP) and (b) indirect emissions, related to the electricity consumed by refrigeration systems. A brief summary of GHG emission reduction opportunities from the literature review is given. Note: all references to GHG emissions are expressed in tonnes CO2 – this includes actual CO2 emissions from electricity generation and CO2 equivalent emissions from leakage of refrigerants.

4) Section 3 examines the structure of the soft drinks supply chain and highlights where refrigeration is required and some of the key factors that affect the type of refrigeration equipment used. The refrigeration requirements are slightly different for each of the 8 types of soft drink products identified (e.g. carbonated drinks, fresh fruit juice etc.). Manufacturing plants are shown to be a significant user of industrial refrigeration, for a number of important processes such as carbonation, sugar cooling and pasteurisation. Most of the cooling requirement is at the “point of consumption” e.g. in a pub or restaurant, for on-the-go sales from many types of shop or in the home. The various types of refrigeration equipment used in different parts of the supply chain are described.

5) The temperature levels of refrigeration systems used in soft drinks are similar at different points in


the supply chain. Raw materials, process ingredients and finished products all need to be cooled to temperatures in the region of 5oC. There is virtually no requirement for temperatures below freezing.

Quantification of the carbon footprint (see Section 4)6) Total refrigeration emissions of GHGs from the UK soft drink supply chain are estimated to be 1.5

million tonnes CO2 per year. This includes both direct and indirect emissions.7) The carbon footprint is dominated by emissions from retail and food service, as illustrated in Figure

ES.1. These parts of the supply chain represent 92% of the total emissions. Manufacturing plants represent 4% of emissions and cooling in domestic refrigerators a further 3%. The remaining 1% is mainly for chilled transport of raw materials.

8) Energy related indirect emissions are dominant, representing 93% of total emissions, as illustrated in Figure ES.2.

9) An important part of the carbon footprint analysis was an assessment of the number of items of cooling equipment used in the retail and food service sectors. Market data shows that there are around 350,000 establishments serving chilled soft drinks in the UK. These establishments use around 600,000 bottle coolers, 110,000 draught dispense coolers and 65,000 vending machines.

10) The emissions from domestic refrigerators are based on the “product cooling load” only –the “standing loads” (e.g. insulation losses) are not included as it has been assumed the refrigerator is required for numerous food products. If standing loads were included they would form a significant additional part of the total CO2 footprint.

11) The carbon footprint includes emissions from non-UK manufacture of raw materials, non-UK packaging of imported drinks and non-UK chilled transport. The total non-UK emissions are about 1% of the total.

12) Figure ES.3 illustrates the spread of CO2 emissions across the soft drinks supply chain.


Figure ES.3: UK Soft Drink Refrigeration Requirements and % of Total CO2 Emissions

Drivers and Barriers (see Section 5)13) There are a number of drivers that will encourage GHG emission reduction. The new EU F-Gas

Regulation is especially important in relation to direct emissions. The cost of electricity is the most important driver towards reducing indirect emissions, together with corporate voluntary programmes and Government programmes such as Climate Change Agreements and the Carbon Reduction Commitment.

14) A key barrier is lack of awareness of the numerous opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions and of the relative importance of energy in the carbon footprint. There is rapid technological development, particularly in relation to new ultra-low GWP refrigerants – it is hard for end users to be fully aware of the best choices as new products are regularly being announced. Parts of the retail and food service sectors are highly fragmented in terms of ownership and Trade Association representation – that makes it hard to improve awareness. This is less of a barrier amongst large multiple chains (e.g. supermarkets, petrol forecourts etc.) where there is more in-house expertise. Accessing the


manufacturing plants is also relatively easy as there are only around 35 UK plants and the majority of these have a Climate Change Agreement.

Emission Reduction Opportunities – Retail and Food Service (see Section 6)15) Ten different emission reduction methods are discussed in Section 6 for retail and food service

equipment. Some of these opportunities are very specific (e.g. the use of automatic controls on bottle coolers) whilst other are more general and encompass many individual design and operational opportunities.

16) There are excellent opportunities to improve the efficiency of bottle coolers. Avoiding use of coolers without doors is a crucial step – savings of 50% to 75% can be expected. The latest designs of coolers with doors use a variety of technologies to improve efficiency, e.g. LED lighting, EC fans and high efficiency compressors. Figure ES.4 illustrates the difference in efficiency between older designs (as used on 10 year old equipment still in the field) and the latest high efficiency coolers. Savings of 85% are possible if an old open fronted cooler is replaced with a best-in-class unit with doors and good control. When an old design with doors is replaced there is >50% saving potential.

17) Continued efficiency improvement is expected for new retail and food service equipment entering the market over the next 5 years. An interesting possibility is the use of a rapid cooling system to avoid the need for storing large numbers of cooled bottles.

18) Direct emissions from food service equipment can be reduced by over 90% as older equipment using HFCs is replaced at end-of-life. The EU F-Gas Regulation will encourage use of ultra-low GWP alternatives including hydrocarbons, CO2 and HFOs .

Emission Reduction Opportunities – Manufacturing Plants (see Section 7)19) A further eight emission reduction methods are discussed in Section 7 for packaging factory

equipment. There are good opportunities to reduce the overall cooling requirement by process modifications such as ambient temperature carbonation and regenerative cooling of hot sugar solution.

20) The high GWP refrigerant HFC 404A should be avoided for all new plant investments. Large chiller systems can use ultra-low GWP ammonia or HFOs. In the short term, medium GWP HFCs may be required (e.g. HFC 407F) but within the next 3 years a range of lower GWP options are expected to be commercialised.

21) A summary of the opportunities described in Sections 6 and 7 is given in Table ES.1.Recommendations (see Section 8)

22) A range of recommendations have been made about stimulating the uptake of the GHG emission reduction opportunities described in Sections 6 and 7.

23) There is a need to prepare targeted information aimed at (a) manufacturing plant operators and (b) retail and food service operators. This information should provide up to date guidance on relevant aspects of the new F-Gas Regulation (which will be main driver to reduce direct emissions) and guidance on the key energy efficiency opportunities. Getting targeted information to manufacturing plants and large multiple retail / food service operations will be relatively easy as there are few key players. Defra will need to carefully consider how to access the more fragmented parts of retail and food service, especially as these establishments are likely to be using the least efficient equipment.

24) It is recommended that expert groups are brought together under the coordination of BSDA to discuss some of the technical opportunities available.

25) Rapid technical developments are expected over the next few years in relation to both energy


efficiency and new ultra-low GWP refrigerants. It is recommended that the soft drinks sector sets up a mechanism to monitor relevant developments and to disseminate information to appropriate contacts.

Table ES.1: Summary of Emission Reduction Opportunities


Ret

ail a

nd F

ood

Serv

ice

Indirect Emissions



3 Improved control


Direct Emissions - Integrals



Direct Emissions

– larger systems

(condensing units and

packs)

7 Retrofill of HFC 404A systems with “medium” GWP alternative




Man

ufac

turin

g Pl

ants

Indirect Emissions






Direct Emissions

16 New equipment purchasing




1.IntroductionThis is the final report from a project entitled: “Review of energy use data and information on refrigeration and chilling within the soft drinks supply chain” carried out for Defra. The research work was carried out by Jacobs, formerly SKM Enviros, in January to April 2014.1.1. Project BackgroundDefra are supporting various projects in the UK soft drinks sector to develop a “sustainability road map for soft drinks”. An initial research project, “Evidence to support the development of a sustainability road map for soft drinks ”, was commissioned in January 2012 to examine the evidence on environmental impacts and ‘hot spots’ to inform development of a soft drinks roadmap. Refrigeration was identified as a priority area for investigation, recognising the lack of data available on environmental impacts of refrigeration used in the soft drinks supply chain. In particular, there were uncertainties about the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from refrigeration use in the supply chain. This project was commissioned by Defra to provide new data and insights.Refrigeration is an important utility in the soft drinks sector. It is required in all parts of the supply chain, to maintain the quality of raw materials, to support the manufacturing process and to provide the end user with a chilled product. Without refrigeration the soft drinks sector would be unable to provide many of the products that end users currently purchase. Refrigeration systems used in the soft drinks supply chain create a significant carbon footprint. Previous work sponsored by Defra has identified that there are excellent opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint of many different types of refrigeration system. The new research being carried out in this study will highlight which of the opportunities are most applicable to the soft drinks sector and provide guidance on how GHG emission reductions can be best achieved.

1.2. Project ObjectivesThe overall aims of this project are to:

Quantify the refrigeration related environmental impact of different parts of the soft drink supply chain (particularly in terms of the total carbon footprint, which is the sum of direct refrigerant and indirect energy related GHG emissions);

Identify and quantify the key opportunities for reducing environmental impact and GHG emissions from soft drink sector refrigeration;

Recommend policies that could be used to encourage uptake of these opportunities. In order to address these aims, the study includes: A review of relevant literature, especially in relation to extensive previous work that identifies the

numerous opportunities for reducing the environmental impacts of refrigeration systems; Quantification of the refrigeration related GHG emissions in each part of the soft drinks supply chain

– this will include research with key stakeholders in different parts of the soft drinks supply chain; Development of sub-sector specific guidelines that highlight the key GHG reduction opportunities

(e.g. separate guidelines for sub-sectors of the supply chain such as industrial, large retail and small systems used in food service / small retail);

Assessment of the drivers and barriers to uptake of emission reduction measures and provision of recommendations for activities that will maximise emission reductions.

1.3. Structure of ReportThe structure of this report is as follows:Section 1, IntroductionSection 2, Global Warming Impact of Refrigeration – introduction to the way in which refrigeration systems create a global warming impact and summarises key findings from the literature review in relation to potential for GHG emission reduction.Section 3, Refrigeration in the Soft Drinks Supply Chain – description of the soft drinks supply chain and highlights the most important users of refrigeration. It also provides temperature maps for certain products.Section 4, Quantification of Carbon Footprint – details about the level of direct and indirect GHG emissions


from refrigeration systems in each part of the supply chain.Section 5, Drivers and Barriers – description of the main drivers that will encourage GHG emission reduction and the barriers preventing this from happening.Section 6, Emission Reduction Opportunities: Retail and Food Service – description of the key opportunities for emission reduction related to retail and food service systems.Section 7, Emission Reduction Opportunities: Manufacturing Plants – description of the key opportunities for emission reduction related to refrigeration used in manufacturing plants.Section 8, Key Findings and Recommendations – this section provides recommendations for policy actions that can be taken by Defra or other Road Map stakeholders.Appendix A provides a list of literature sources used during the project. Appendix B gives “temperature maps” for parts of the supply chain. Appendix C provides a glossary of terms.

2.Global Warming Impact of Refrigeration In this section we provide some important “lessons learned” from previous work investigated during a literature review. This includes background to the types of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and information about the techniques that are available to reduce emissions. Previous work has shown that there is excellent potential to reduce emissions. Sources that were reviewed to provide inputs into this study are listed in Appendix A.2.1. Types of Global Warming ImpactThe GHG emissions from refrigeration equipment is illustrated in Figure 2.1.

It is important to recognise that the refrigeration systems used in the soft drinks supply chain make two distinct contributions to global warming. These are:1)The “direct” global warming impact related to emission of high global warming potential (GWP) HFCs, such

as R134a and R404A that are in common use as refrigerants. Direct CO2 emissions mostly occur via leakage of refrigerant during the operating life of equipment or through venting of refrigerant during plant decommissioning at end-of-life.

2)The “indirect” global warming impact related to the emission of CO2 from power stations that supply the electricity required by the refrigeration systems.

The relative importance of direct and indirect emissions varies across the supply chain and is fully quantified in Section 4. The indirect energy related emissions are the dominant contributor across the whole soft drinks supply chain.The direct emissions can be significant if HFC refrigerants are used. HFCs are very common in many parts of the supply chain. The GWP relates the global warming impact of 1 kg of emission of any gas compared to 1 kg of CO2. Examples of GWPs are shown in Table 2.1. It is clear from the values in this table that unnecessary emissions of HFC refrigerants will make a considerable contribution to global warming. Direct emissions can occur during each part of the lifecycle of a refrigeration system including (a) during installation of a new system, (b) during the life of a refrigeration system because of leakage or (c) at end-of-life if the refrigerant is not properly recovered during system decommissioning. For large systems such as those used in supermarkets or in soft drink factories it is the in-life leakage that is the largest source of refrigerant emissions. For small systems such as bottle coolers or cold drink dispense systems, it is usually the end-of-life losses that are most significant.The indirect emissions are significant for all refrigeration systems. The refrigeration process is energy


intensive and hence requires a lot of electricity. This creates CO2 emissions at power stations. Refrigeration can form a significant part of the total electricity bill of companies in the soft drink supply chain. For example, refrigeration represents nearly 50% of the electricity used in a supermarket .Table 2.1: GWPs of some common refrigerants

Refrigerant GWP

Ammonia 0

HFO 1234yf <1

CO2 1

Propane 5

HFC 134a 1,430

HFC 407C 1,774

HFC 407F 1,825

HFC 407A 2,107

HFC 404A 3,922

2.2. Opportunities to Reduce Direct ImpactThe literature review highlights the following important techniques to reduce direct refrigerant emissions:

a) For new systems, the use of low or ultra-low GWP refrigerants in place of high GWP HFCs. For example use of hydrocarbons in small hermetically sealed systems such as bottle coolers or use of ammonia in industrial systems. If HFCs can be replaced in this way the direct emissions drop by a factor of around 1,000.

b) Improving the design and maintenance of systems to reduce in-life leakage. Large systems used in industrial plants and supermarkets have historically been very prone to leakage. A reduction of in-life leakage of well over 50% is achievable with better equipment design and improved maintenance practices. Better training of service technicians and regular leak checks, both of which are a mandatory requirement of the EU F-Gas Regulation, support this opportunity.

c) Ensuring maximum recovery of HFC refrigerants at end-of-life of old equipment. Recovery of HFCs is mandatory, but compliance with the EU F-Gas Regulation can be improved, especially for small systems used in retail and domestic cooling.

d) For existing systems using HFC 404A there is an opportunity to replace this very high GWP refrigerant with “medium” GWP alternatives such as HFC 407F – this reduces emissions by over 50% because the GWP is much lower (see Table 2.1).

Previous work for Defra (see Footnote 2) included a detailed financial analysis of the potential for direct emission reductions for refrigeration in the whole food chain – this showed potential for a massive 90% reduction of direct emissions over the next 20 years. These opportunities are discussed in more detail in relation to the soft drinks supply chain in Sections 6 and 7. It is also worth noting that the new EU F-Gas Regulation (due to come into force in June 2014) includes measures to cut supply of HFCs into the EU market by 80% by 2030. This is discussed further in Section 5 on drivers and barriers.2.3. Opportunities to Reduce Indirect ImpactThe literature review highlights the following important techniques to improve energy efficiency and hence reduce indirect refrigerant emissions:

a) To reduce the cooling load. There are numerous examples of “unnecessary” cooling. Measures as simple as putting doors on retail display cases can reduce the cooling requirement by well over 50%. Some parts of the manufacturing process can be modified to reduce or even eliminate a refrigeration load.

b) To improve the control settings and maintenance of refrigeration plants to make them operate more efficiently. Many plants are operated very inefficiently – savings of 20% are not uncommon, via low cost maintenance improvements or zero cost control adjustments.

c) For existing systems, to make investments that will improve efficiency. There are many examples of these opportunities in the literature, for example using variable speed drives for chilled water pumps or for chill store fans; to purchase new compressors to improve part load efficiency; to replace old condensers to reduce condensing temperature and hence reduce power consumption.

d) For new systems, to ensure improved component selection and system design to maximise efficiency. Opportunities for efficiency improvement are especially good when an old plant is being


replaced with a new one. The latest high efficiency compressors and heat exchangers can be selected to provide much higher efficiency than the old plant being replaced.

e) Previous work for Defra (see Footnote 2) showed significant potential for improving efficiency and hence reducing indirect emissions – a saving of 40% to 50% may be possible for the whole food chain over the next 20 years. These opportunities are discussed in more detail in relation to the soft drinks supply chain in Section 6 (for retail and food service systems and Section 7 (for industrial systems used in soft drink manufacturing plants).

3.Refrigeration in the Soft Drinks Supply Chain

3.1. Supply Chain StructureTo understand the use of refrigeration in soft drinks it is useful to look for requirements in each stage of the supply chain. These stages include:

a) Raw materials productionb) Raw materials transport to processing plantsc) Drink processing and bottling plantsd) Finished product transport to point of sales.e) Sales to final consumers: various routes including large retail (e.g. supermarkets), small retail (e.g.

petrol stations), vending and food service (pubs, restaurants etc.).f) Storage by final consumers in domestic refrigerators

3.2. Types of Soft DrinkThe requirements for refrigeration vary by soft drink type. For example, the maximum refrigeration requirement is for fresh fruit juice products that require chilling throughout the supply chain to avoid product spoilage. The minimum requirement is for some types of bottled water that require no chilling at any stage of the supply chain structure and is subsequently drunk at ambient temperature.The British Soft Drinks Association (BSDA) publish data on total UK consumption of soft drinks. The BSDA 2013 UK Soft Drinks Report provides consumption data for the following 5 sectors of the soft drink industry:Carbonated drinks 45% of UK consumptionDilutables 22%Bottled water 15%Still and juice drinks 10%Fruit juice and smoothies 8%To fully understand refrigeration requirements it has been necessary to sub-divide some of these categories into groups with different refrigeration requirements. The categories used for analysis are summarised in Table 3.1.A key feature of most soft drinks products is that the majority can be stored at ambient temperature after being packaged. As shown in Table 3.1, the only packaged products that must be kept chilled are fresh fruit juice and smoothies.Table 3.1: Soft Drink Product Categories


3.3. Raw Materials ProductionThe majority of soft drinks drunk in the UK are processed and packaged in a UK manufacturing plant. The key raw materials used are:

a) Syrups for making carbonated drinks (e.g. cola syrup)b) Fruit juice concentrates (e.g. orange juice, apple juice etc., referred to as fruit juice “from

concentrate” FC)c) Fruit juice at normal concentration (referred to as fruit juice “not from concentrate” NFC)d) Watere) Sugar

Various other ingredients such as sweeteners and concentrated flavourings can be used.The syrups and fruit juice (FC and NFC) are almost all produced outside the UK. There is little or no UK refrigeration load associated with raw materials production.Some of the raw materials are kept in a chilled condition during transport to the UK and are held in chilled condition at the bottling plant prior to use.It is worth noting that concentrates are used to reduce the volume to be shipped, typically by a factor of around 6; an FC fruit juice is diluted by the same factor using process water at the manufacturing plant. This reduces transport costs and transport refrigeration requirements, although a lot of energy is used in the country of origin to produce the concentrate.

3.4. Processing Operations at Manufacturing PlantsThe processing steps and the associated refrigeration requirements depend on:

a) The type of product being madeb) The type of production machineryc) The type of packaging used

From a refrigeration perspective, the key requirements at a manufacturing plant include:1) Storage of raw materials. This is a fairly small refrigeration load. Raw materials are stored in chilled tanks

or chill rooms between 0 and 4oC.2) Chilling of process water prior to carbonation. In some plants this is a major load. All the process water

that is part of the drink mixture needs to be at a controlled temperature. Historically this is quite a low temperature – in the range 4oC to 10oC. If the water is not chilled, there can be problems when the drink is filled into a package. More modern carbonation systems can operate well at higher temperatures, up


to between 15oC and 20oC. The type of carbonation equipment used has a big influence on the carbonation chilling requirement. Best practice (from a refrigeration perspective) is no chilling load. Worst practice is that the whole volume of drink being packaged must be cooled to around 4oC.

This cooling load is also influenced by the temperature of process water at the manufacturing plant. At most plants the water is either from a towns water supply or a borehole. It usually goes through a water treatment process before it is used. In the UK towns water varies in temperature between around 5oC in winter and 15oC in summer. The water treatment plant can add about 5 deg C to the water temperature, so the treated water temperature varies between around 10oC and 20oC. In a plant needing process water at 4oC prior to carbonation this creates a significant year round cooling load. In a best practice plant there is no cooling needed almost all year.3) Chilling of pasteuriser. Some soft drinks require pasteurisation to ensure a long shelf life. This does not

apply to all products (e.g. cola carbonated drinks) but is a requirement for most fruit juices and some types of carbonated and still / juice drinks. Pasteurisation involves heating the drink to around 80oC and then cooling it back to ambient or to a chilled condition. In a best practice regenerative pasteuriser, the cooling load is quite small as most heating and cooling is done by transferring heat between incoming and outgoing soft drink in a heat exchanger. However, as discussed below, for some packaging types this is not possible and the cooling load is much higher.

4) Cooling of sugar solution. Sugar is an ingredient in many types of soft drink. Most plants purchase sugar in granulated form and dissolve it in process water at medium temperature (around 65oC, to allow quick dissolving). The warm sugar solution must be cooled prior to blending with other ingredients. In a best practice plant the refrigeration load is small – much of the cooling can be done via heat recovery and/or cooling tower water. In a worst practice operation, the warm sugar is cooled only with refrigeration.

5) Storage of finished products (only fresh fruit juice / smoothies). As with raw material chilling, this is a small load, in a chilled warehouse. The majority of soft drink products are stored at ambient temperature – only fresh fruit juice requires chilling.

6) Chilling of bottle blowers (for PET bottle production). Many large manufacturing plants produce their own PET bottles in bottle blowing systems. Compressed air is used to create a bottle from a plastic “pre-form” in a heated mould. The bottle blowing equipment requires cooling via refrigerated water.

The industrial refrigeration equipment used at manufacturing plants falls into two main categories:a) The majority of the cooling is provided by large water chillers. Some chillers use ammonia

refrigerant. Others use HFCs such as HFC134a and HFC 407C. b) The cooling for storage of raw materials and finished products is usually provided by small industrial

direct expansion refrigeration units, using refrigerants such as HFC 404A and HFC 134a.3.5. Transport to Point of SaleAlmost all packaged soft drinks (96%) are transported at ambient temperature between the bottling plant and the point of sale, creating no requirement for refrigeration.Fresh juice and smoothies require chilled transport, usually in large lorries fitted with a refrigeration system. Most transport refrigeration systems use HFC 404A.

3.6. Point of Consumption CoolingThe most significant part of the cooling requirement for soft drinks occurs at the point of consumption. The majority of soft drinks are consumed in a chilled condition, typically between 3oC and 6oC. As discussed in Section 3.5, around 96% of soft drinks are at ambient temperature when transported to the point of sale; hence there is a requirement to cool the drinks prior to consumption. The possible routes to market for soft drinks include:

a) Sales in large supermarkets. Most supermarket soft drinks sales are at ambient temperature. Some carbonates, juice drinks and bottled water are chilled for “on-the-go” sales and all fresh juice / smoothies are sold chilled.

b) Sales in small shops. There are a wide range of different types of small shops selling soft drinks, including convenience stores, petrol stations, newsagents and bakeries. A high proportion of these are on-the-go sales from chilled displays.

c) Sales in food service. Most restaurants, pubs, hotels and other food service outlets sell soft drinks. Some of the drinks are sold from factory packaged supplies (cans, glass bottles, PET bottles) which are usually chilled in bottle coolers. In food service there is also widespread use of draught dispensers, which prepare chilled carbonated drinks via a specialised dispense systems.

d) Vending machine sales. Vending machines are used in a variety of locations such as railway stations, schools, hospitals, staff canteens, leisure facilities etc. These usually provide chilled drinks


in cans or PET bottles. Most soft drinks purchased for consumption at home are sold at ambient temperature from large supermarkets or convenience stores. A significant proportion of these are subsequently chilled in a domestic refrigerator or cooled with ice.No definitive research has been discovered in the literature to define the proportions of each soft drink type that is consumed in a chilled condition. Data has been gathered from industry experts to make a reasonable estimate of the proportion of soft drinks that are drunk in a chilled condition. This proportion varies (a) by type of drink and (b) by method of sale to the customer. The estimates made are shown in Table 3.3.

Table 3.3: Estimates of Drinks Consumed in Chilled Condition

Soft Drink Sector

Method of sale to consumer

Consumed at home after purchase from supermarkets and smaller retailers

“On-the-go” sales e.g. petrol stations, vending machines,

chill cabinets in supermarkets

Consumed in a food service location

(pubs, restaurants, hotels, fast food etc.)

% consumed chilled

Carbonated drinks 75% 80% >95%

Dilutables 30% Not applicable >95%

Fresh fruit juice / smoothies 100% 100% 100%

Long life fruit juice / smoothies 80% 90% >95%

Still and juice drinks 40% 90% >95%

Bottled water 30% 90% >95%

Table 3.3 illustrates that:a) Almost all soft drinks (of all types) sold in a food service operation (pub, restaurant etc.) are served

chilled.b) A high proportion of drinks sold for “on-the-go” consumption (e.g. bottled water available at a shop

located at a railway station) are chilled.c) A significant proportion of carbonated drinks consumed at home are chilled in a refrigerator.d) A much smaller proportion of bottled water or dilutables (e.g. orange squash) are drunk chilled at

home.The equipment used for point of consumption cooling depends on the way in which the drink is sold. The main options are:

a) Integral hermetically sealed bottle coolers are used in many small shops, convenience stores, petrol forecourts etc. The compressor and condenser are located close to the evaporator, integrated into the equipment being cooled. These systems are factory built, without any requirement for refrigerant handling during installation. The most commonly used refrigerants are HFCs 134a and 404A, although there is a rapid trend towards very low GWP refrigerants such as hydrocarbons. Bottle coolers are often “open vertical units” as illustrated in Figure 3.1, but there is an increasing trend towards units with doors, as in Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.1: Vertical multi-drink bottle cooler, no doors


Figure 3.2: Bottle cooler with doors

b) Draught dispense systems are used in pubs and restaurants to make a chilled soft drink using a concentrated syrup together with chilled water and CO2. They usually use a factory built integral hermetically sealed ice bank cooler to chill in-coming mains water. The most commonly used refrigerant is HFC 134a. There are various types of dispense system available – a common configuration allowing dispense of several products is illustrated in Figure 3.3.

Figure 3.3: Draught dispense system

c) Vending machines have a factory built integral hermetically sealed chilling unit. The most commonly used refrigerant is HFCs 134a.

d) Large central refrigeration systems used in supermarkets to cool retail displays. A central system (with multiple compressors and air-cooled condensers, located in a remote machinery room or outdoors) can serve numerous evaporators located in chilled displays in the public area or in chill rooms used for bulk storage. A typical configuration is illustrated in Figure 3.4. Most current systems use HFC 404A refrigerant, although many supermarkets are now considering much lower GWP options such as CO2. The complex refrigerant pipework systems are always site assembled.


Figure 3.4: Supermarket central system

e) Condensing units are used in convenience stores. A condensing unit is a much smaller version of a supermarket central system, with a single compressor and air-cooled condenser located in a remote machinery room or outdoors, connected to evaporators in between 1 and 3 chilled displays in the public area. Most current systems use HFC 404A refrigerant. The refrigerant pipework connecting the condensing unit to evaporators is always site assembled.

f) All domestic refrigerators are factory built integral hermetically sealed units. Prior to 2000, the most commonly used refrigerant was HFC 134a, but in more recent years at least 90% of the EU market for new domestic refrigerators has moved to a hydrocarbon refrigerant (iso-butane).

3.7. Impact of PackagingIt is worth noting that the type of packaging used can have two important impacts on refrigeration requirements:

a) For pasteurised products, the type of packaging can affect the way pasteurisation is carried out at the bottling plant. If the product can be pasteurised prior to packaging it is possible to use highly efficient regenerative pasteurisers, with a relatively small heating and cooling requirement. However, some products are pasteurised after being filled (to minimise risk of contamination). It is much more difficult to incorporate regenerative heat recovery when pasteurising packaged products – this leads to much higher heating and cooling loads.

b) The packaging must be cooled at point of use if the final consumer wants a chilled drink. Table 3.3 shows that for products in cans or PET bottles the extra cooling load is very low (~1%), but for products in glass bottles the extra load is more significant (over 10%). From a refrigeration perspective it is clearly advantageous to avoid glass packaging.

Table 3.3: Comparison of Cooling Loads for Different Packaging Types

Package Mass drink, g

Mass package, g

% of cooling for package

330 ml glass 330 250 12.2%

500 ml PET 500 30 1.4%

330 ml can 330 14 0.9%

2000 ml PET 2000 50 0.6%

3.8. Temperature RequirementsThe temperature requirements are similar across the supply chain. Material that is at risk of biodegradation (such as fruit based raw materials and fresh juice products) must be stored below 7oC and is usually kept at around 4oC. Temperature for final consumption is also in the region of 4oC. Hence the majority of refrigeration systems used in the soft drinks supply chain provide cooling at “chill temperatures” a little above freezing. There is little requirement for the much lower temperatures used in other parts of the food chain,


for frozen foods.A significant part of the total cooling requirement is to cool water or finished product from ambient temperature. In particular:

a) Process water used in a bottling plant is cooled from ambient prior to the carbonation process. As discussed in Section 3.4 the target temperature depends on the type of carbonation equipment being used, typically being 4oC for older equipment and 10oC to 15oC for more modern systems. The incoming ambient water temperature can vary seasonally and is also affected by the type of water treatment system in use.

b) Packaged products are cooled from ambient to around 4oC prior to final consumption. The incoming product temperature can also vary seasonally, although in many cases the product has been previously stored in an indoor location, so could be in the region of 15oC to 20oC even in winter time.

In manufacturing plants there are further cooling requirements involving different temperature levels to those described above. These include:

a) Pasteurisation. For most products the drink must be cooled back from around 80oC to ambient. In best practice, much of this load is carried out with “free cooling”, but in worst practice there could be a significant refrigeration load at temperatures well above ambient.

b) Sugar cooling. Dissolved sugar at around 65oC requires cooling back to ambient temperature. As with pasteurisation, much of this can be provided via free cooling, although refrigeration may be used in a worst practice situation.

c) Bottle blowing. The PET bottle blowing equipment needs chilled water to cool the moulding chambers. The chilled water temperature requirement is defined by the type of equipment in use – in best practice this temperature will be as high as possible to allow free cooling with cooling tower water for all or part of the year.

Temperature “maps” for certain parts of the supply chain are illustrated in Appendix B.

4.Quantification of Carbon Footprint4.1. Basis of carbon footprint analysisData has been collected to estimate the CO2 footprint at each part of the supply chain. Key aspects of this analysis include:

a) Packaging factories. There are 26 UK soft drinks plants with Climate Change Agreements (CCAs). These 26 factories produce 70% of the total soft drinks consumed in the UK. It is estimated that a further 17% is produced at around 9 non-CCA factories (mostly bottled water, which is not eligible for a CCA) and 13% is imported. CCA data is available for the total electricity consumption at the 26 main plants. Various plant operators have provided an estimate of the proportion of their electricity that is used for refrigeration. Calculations have also been made to estimate the amount of refrigeration electricity required for each of the cooling processes described in Section 3.4. These 2 different approaches show reasonable agreement and indicate that for all 26 plants around 15% of the site electricity is used for refrigeration. It is important to note that this percentage varies considerably, depending on whether cooling loads have been minimised (as discussed in Section 3.4). Plant operators have also provided data to identify the refrigerants used, to enable estimates of direct GHG emissions to be made.

b) Retail and Food Service. A proportion of retail equipment is owned by major soft drinks operators (around 30% of the total). Operators have provided data on the design of such equipment, including the amount of electricity used in different models of bottle coolers, dispense systems and vending machines. They have also provided data on the numbers of items in their fleet of equipment. Data has also been collected to identify the total number of relevant retail establishments in the UK (e.g. pubs, supermarkets etc.). This data has been used to estimate the total number of pieces of retail / food service equipment being used in the UK. The overall fleet size has been used in conjunction with operator data for electricity consumption to estimate the total carbon footprint of the electricity used. The operator data also identified refrigeration types and charge sizes, which have been used to estimate the direct refrigerant emissions.

c) Domestic refrigeration. A significant proportion of drinks consumed in the home are chilled in a domestic refrigerator. The volume of chilled drink has been estimated and used to calculate the “product load” to cool drink from 20oC (ambient storage temperature in a heated house) to 5oC. It is assumed that the refrigerator would be used anyway, hence most of the standing loads (e.g. heat gain through insulation) and direct refrigerant emissions need not be attributed to the soft drinks being cooled.

d) Other refrigeration loads. Almost all the refrigeration requirements in the soft drinks supply chain are


in the 3 categories above (99%). Calculations have also been carried out to estimate the further loads associated with raw materials processing (outside UK), raw materials transport and finished product transport.

e) Carbon emission factors. The CO2 emissions factor for electricity is 0.5 kg CO2 per kWh. The GWP values for refrigerants are based on the IPCC 4th Assessment Report.

4.2. Results of carbon footprint analysisIn this section we summarise the results of the carbon footprint estimates. Table 4.1 gives the estimates of CO2 emissions in different parts of the supply chain and Figures 4.1 to 4.5 provide interpretations of this data.

Table 4.1: UK Soft Drink Refrigeration Carbon Footprint

Supply Chain StageAnnual emissions, ktonnes CO2 % of total

emissionsDirect Indirect Total

Raw materials processing 1 4 5 0.3%

Raw materials transport 1 6 7 0.5%

Packaging factories 8 46 55 4%

Finished product transport 1 4 5 0.3%

Retail 75 300 375 25%

Food Service 10 1,000 1,010 67%

Domestic 4 40 44 3%

Total 100 1,400 1,500

Total Emissions from refrigeration SystemsThe overall carbon emissions are estimated to be around 1.5 million tonnes CO2. Split of Emissions in the Supply ChainThe total emissions are dominated by the refrigeration requirement in retail and food service establishments. This is illustrated in Figure 4.1, with retail and food service together representing over 90% of the total. This is an important finding from the policy perspective as it shows that the main efforts must be directed to retail and food service.


Split of Direct and Indirect Emissions The carbon footprint is dominated by the indirect energy related emissions, as illustrated in Figure 4.2. Direct refrigerant emissions only account for 7% of the overall carbon footprint.

Emissions from Retail and Food ServiceAs shown in Figure 4.1, retail and food service equipment dominate the carbon footprint. This is because of the very large number of pieces of equipment used in retail and food service outlets. Even though each unit is fairly small in terms of energy consumption, the overall total is very large.Table 4.2 shows further details about the overall numbers of establishments and items of equipment used in the UK retail and food service sectors and Figure 4.3 illustrates the split of emissions between the 3 main types of equipment.


Table 4.2: Analysis of Retail and Food Service

Main sector

Sub-sector Number of establishments

Average number of items per establishment for soft drinks

Coolers Dispense Vending

Retail1

Convenience Stores

41,500 2 0 0

Supermarkets 6,500 4 0 0

Petrol forecourts 7,000 2 0 0

Other shops 38,000 1 0 0.3

Food Service2

Restaurant

28,000 2 0.4 0

Fast Food 32,000 2 1 0

Pubs 46,000 3 1 0

Hotels 46,000 2 0.4 0

Leisure 20,000 2 0.2 0.7

Staff catering 19,000 2 0 0.7

Health care 32,000 0.1 0 0.3

Education 34,000 0 0 0.5

Total Numbers 350,000 600,000 110,000 65,000

It is important to note that many different models of bottle coolers, dispense systems and vending machines are used. These use different types of refrigerant and have widely varying energy consumption. The estimates made during this study are based on typical models that are representative of the whole fleet of equipment. One of the key variables is whether bottle coolers have doors or are of an open-fronted design.

1 Source of data for retail establishments: IGD, 20092 Source of data for food service establishments, Horizon 2012


In the “fleets” of equipment owned by some of the major drink producers there has already been a significant move away from open-fronted coolers. However, these fleets only represent around 30% of the coolers population – the remainder of the market make much greater use of open-fronted coolersProduct load and “standing load” of bottle coolersBottle coolers represent over 70% of the total refrigeration carbon footprint of the soft drinks supply chain. It is interesting to understand the bottle cooler load. The primary functions of the cooler are to cool a bottle of drink from ambient temperature to a suitable temperature for consumption (e.g. 4oC) and then to make that bottle available for sale in a retail or food service establishment. The overall energy requirement can be split into 2 parts:

a) The “product load”, which is the energy used to cool product from ambient to 4oCb) The “standing load” which is the energy used to keep the bottle cooler at 4oC, even if no warm

product is added to the cooler. The standing load includes heat ingress through insulation and auxiliary devices such as display lighting and evaporator fans.

The relative importance of these loads will be strongly dependent on the throughput of product through a cooler – if sales are high, the addition of warm product becomes more important than for a quiet establishment with low levels of sales. Table 4.3 illustrates an assessment of the carbon emissions from 2 different types of bottle cooler, for 3 levels of sales turnover. The standing load is dominant, especially for open-fronted coolers. Assuming that there are around 665,000 bottle coolers and vending machines in the UK (see Table 4.2), it is estimated that the average number of bottles or cans sold per cooler is only 35 per day (i.e. less than the “low sales” value used in Table 4.3).Table 4.3: Bottle Cooler Product Load (for coolers with 480 bottle capacity)

Bottle Cooler Sales Level High Medium Low

Number of bottle sold per day 150 100 50

Electricity per day to cool bottles from ambient (20oC) to 5oC kWh per day

0.45 0.3 0.15

Cooler with doors

Rated daily kWh 8

% of load for product cooling 5.4% 3.6% 1.8%

Open fronted cooler

Rated daily kWh 30

% of load for product cooling 1.5% 1.0% 0.5%

Emissions from Domestic RefrigeratorsThe emissions shown in Table 4.1 for cooling in domestic refrigerators only represent 3% of the supply chain total. Only the product load has been taken into account – it has been assumed that the domestic refrigerator would be in use irrespective of whether it contained any soft drinks, hence it is reasonable to ignore the standing load of each refrigerator.This assumption may be considered inappropriate, as soft drinks occupy some of the space in a refrigerator and should perhaps be allocated with a proportion of the standing loads. As with the discussion above for bottle coolers, the standing load of a refrigerator is a significant proportion of the total load. There are around 30 million refrigerators and freezers in UK households. If we allocate 5% of the standing load to soft drinks (conservatively low) this would add around 0.5 million tonnes CO2 to the soft drink footprint. In this scenario domestic refrigerators would represent about 25% of a soft drink supply chain footprint of 2 million tonnes CO2.Emissions from Manufacturing PlantsThe split of the carbon footprint within manufacturing plants is illustrated in Figure 4.4.


Non-UK EmissionsA small proportion of the emissions shown in Table 4.1 are outside the UK. The non-UK emissions include cooling of fruit juice in non-UK processing plants, transport of chilled juice to the UK and manufacturing plant cooling for the 13% of products that are packaged outside the UK. We estimate that the non-UK emissions are 1% of the 1.5 million tonnes CO2 total.

4.3. Supply Chain AnalysisUsing the carbon footprint analysis presented in Section 4.2 we can create an overview of the carbon emissions from the use of refrigeration in different parts of the supply chain as summarised in Figure 4.5.Figure 4.5: UK Soft Drink Refrigeration Requirements and % of Total CO2 Emissions


Figure 4.5 highlights the key areas of refrigeration use in the supply chain. The 5 most important areas are as follows:a)Small integral systems in food service and vendingb)Small integral and condensing unit systems in small retail shopsc)Centralised refrigeration systems used in large supermarketsd)Large industrial refrigeration systems in bottling plants.e)Domestic refrigerators.

5.Drivers and Barriers

5.1. DriversThere are strong drivers that can be built on by policy makers to deliver substantial reductions in GHG emissions from soft drink supply chain refrigeration during the next 10 to 15 years. The drivers fall into 3 categories: regulatory, financial and CSR commitments.

Regulatory Drivers – Direct EmissionsThe new EU F-Gas Regulation will provide a particularly strong driver that should help reduce direct GHG emissions from soft drinks refrigeration by at least 80% by 2030. The new Regulation was agreed in April 2014 and will come into force in January 2015. A number of Articles in the new Regulation will specifically apply to different parts of the soft drink supply chain. In particular:

There will be a phase down in the supply of HFCs to the EU market, starting with a small cut in 2016 and reaching a 79% cut in 2030. The phase down will create a supply shortage that will encourage the use of low GWP refrigerants in all new refrigeration equipment and encourage best practice in relation to leak prevention.

There will be a ban on the use of HFCs in small hermetic equipment such as bottle coolers. This comes in 2 stages – HFCs with a GWP > 2,500 are banned from 2020 and HFCs with a GWP > 150 are banned from 2022. This will encourage early adoption of new equipment using alternatives such as propane, CO2 or HFO 1234yf.

There will be a “service ban” which will not allow use of HFCs with a GWP above 2,500 for servicing any equipment containing more than 40 tonnes CO2 equivalent of refrigerant. For HFC 404A, this applies to all equipment containing more than 10 kg. This will have a major impact on supermarket systems and industrial equipment running on HFC 404A or HFC 507. It will encourage retrofill to lower GWP alternatives such as R407A or R407F.

Some important aspects of the existing 2006 EU F-Gas Regulation will still apply to all soft drink equipment using HFCs. HFC refrigerants must be recovered from all equipment reaching end-of-life. All technicians handling HFC refrigerants require training and certification. All systems containing above 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent are subject to mandatory leak checks.

Fiscal Drivers – Direct EmissionsCurrently there is no strong financial driver to reduce direct emissions. If the “embodied value of carbon” in high GWP HFC refrigerants was included in the refrigerant price this would provide a very powerful financial driver. The phase down of HFC sales via the new EU F-Gas Regulation (as discussed above) should create a stronger financial signal as the cost of HFC refrigerants is expected to rise. Regulatory Drivers – Indirect Emissions75% of UK bottling plants are part of a Climate Change Agreement (CCA). These are agreements between Government and industrial companies to improve energy efficiency and provide a strong driver to support refrigeration efficiency projects. Large retailers and food service operations are affected by the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) which creates regulatory driver towards improved energy efficiency. The new requirement for mandatory energy audits in large organisations is an interesting and important driver. The DECC ESOS programme (Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme) is implementing Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive – all large organisations must undergo an ESOS “energy assessment” by December 2015. This will affect most manufacturing plants and all larger chains of retail and food service establishments.


Fiscal Drivers – Indirect EmissionsThe main financial driver to reduce indirect emissions is the electricity cost savings that can be achieved by reducing energy usage. Many of the energy saving opportunities discussed in Sections 6 and 7 have very good financial returns. The level of energy cost savings will grow over the next 15 years as the price of electricity rises in response to the Government’s electricity decarbonisation policies.

CSR Drivers Many of the key players in soft drink manufacture and in retail are large corporates with strong and highly visible commitments to reduce GHG emissions. This creates reasonably strong CSR drivers that should help justify the use of higher efficiency refrigeration and the use of refrigerants with very low GWPs.

5.2. BarriersThere are a number of barriers to reducing GHG emissions due to refrigeration in soft drinks, which fall into 4 categories: financial, awareness, technological and commercial.

Financial BarriersThe main financial barriers are the lack of funds for investment and the demand for short payback periods. Also, there is a reluctance to switch to more expensive new technologies. Purchase decisions for refrigeration plant, both small and large, are generally not made on life cycle cost or payback considerations. Equipment buyers often select the equipment that meets specifications at the lowest cost.

Lack of AwarenessA key issue is lack of awareness of the best opportunities, amongst end users of refrigeration. Previous studies show there are in excess of 100 different techniques that could be considered to reduce emissions. This creates a barrier for investment as many end users are confused by the range of different opportunities and unable to select those that are most relevant to their circumstances and will give them the most benefit. This problem is exacerbated by the rate of technology change in relation to both refrigerants and energy saving technologies.

Technological / Knowledge BarriersThe refrigeration industry has historically made widespread use of non-flammable, non-toxic refrigerants as these are easy and cost effective to use. To use lower GWP refrigerants introduces a number of technology development issues, especially in relation to use of more “difficult” refrigerants that are either highly flammable (e.g. propane), mildly flammable (e.g. HFO 1234yf), very high pressure (CO2) or toxic (ammonia). Equipment suppliers, maintenance contractors and end users need to learn how to use the low GWP refrigerants.

Commercial BarriersIn the food service and small retail sector, energy costs are often small compared to the food products sales revenue. This increases the tendency to disregard energy issues in evaluating sales-boosting design changes such as an increase in lighting intensity. An important commercial issue in the retail sector is the desire to keep products in easy reach of shoppers – which is why many chilled display cabinets have no doors. The use of display case doors, particularly for chilled displays, is one of the best opportunities for indirect emission reduction. Some supermarkets are beginning to use more chill cabinet doors – trying to eliminate barriers to the use of this technology should be a key objective.In some cases, new equipment is purchased when the old equipment fails and there is little or no time to analyse the complex range of competing options. This leads to a preference for established technologies and is a barrier to the speed of uptake of more recent technologies with lower GWP refrigerants or better efficiency.The food service sector has a number of specific barriers related to the fragmented ownership structure of the sector. Food service seems especially constrained by lack of funds for investment, sometimes a result of separate owners and operators and a high rate of business failure in the profit sector. Also, there is no trade body that represents a significant proportion of the sector, which makes it more difficult to involve food service companies in a coordinated programme to reduce CO2 emissions.


6.Emission Reduction – Retail and Food Service This section provides guidance about methods to reduce the GHG emissions from refrigeration systems used in retail and food service. As described in Section 4.2, the emissions from retail and food service refrigeration represent 92% of the total refrigeration emissions from the soft drinks sector – clearly this is the most important part of the supply chain to tackle. There are a number of excellent opportunities to reduce emissions that are described below. The “target audience” for this part of the market is very large – as shown in Table 4.2, there are around 350,000 establishments in the UK using retail and food service refrigeration equipment. It is worth noting that the ownership of the refrigeration equipment in these establishments falls into 3 main groups:

a) Large multiple chains where a single company operates many establishments (e.g. major supermarkets, major brand petrol forecourts, pub chains, restaurant chains). Purchase of new refrigeration equipment and maintenance is often supervised by “head office refrigeration experts”.

b) Fleets owned by soft drink suppliers where major soft drink brands provide retail equipment free of charge to their customers. Purchase of new refrigeration equipment and maintenance is supervised by refrigeration experts from the soft drink supplier.

c) Independent premises and small chains. Purchase of new refrigeration equipment and maintenance is the responsibility of managers with relatively little refrigeration expertise. This is the most difficult part of the market to access (because the number of companies involved is very high and the market is very fragmented) and it is where refrigeration advice is most needed.

The types of equipment used in retail and food service were described in Section 3.6: The majority of systems are small integral hermetic systems, typically with a refrigerant charge of

between 0.1 and 0.5 kg. These are widely used for bottle coolers, vending machines and draught dispense systems.

Larger “condensing unit” systems are used for retail displays in convenience stores (typically with refrigerant charge of 5 to 10 kg).

In supermarkets the majority of retail displays are connected to centralised “pack systems” (typically with refrigerant charge of 50 to 100 kg).

The type of system used affects the opportunities for emission reduction. Opportunities for small integral systems are described in Section 6.1 (direct emissions) and 6.2 (indirect emissions). Further opportunities related to larger systems are discussed in Section 6.3. Opportunities related to industrial systems used in manufacturing plants are addressed in Section 7. These are in a separate section because the nature of the opportunities is completely different and the target audience is much more focussed (there are only around 35 relevant plants in the UK).6.1. Small Integral Systems – Indirect Emissions (Energy)The energy related indirect emissions from small integral systems in retail and food service represent over 1 million tonnes CO2 per year. There is significant potential to improve the energy efficiency of these systems.6.1.1. Opportunity 1: Doors on bottle coolers A simple and highly cost effective strategy is to use doors on all bottle coolers. It is currently very common to use vertical bottle coolers without doors – this is very wasteful. Data in Table 6.1 shows a comparison between the energy used by several different bottle coolers. The data is from a catalogue of equipment available from a major soft drink company. The bottom 2 units in the table are open bottle coolers (i.e. without doors) and they use 7 to 8 times the energy of a bottle cooler with doors.The level of savings that will be achieved in practice are highly dependent on the usage pattern of the bottle cooler – the best savings occur when unit sales per day are low. Various studies have been published about the level of saving from retail chilled display cases, as summarised in Figure 6.2. In the majority of studies the savings are well over 50%.It is also worth noting that the level of sales from most bottle coolers is relatively low. The average sales per bottle cooler in the UK is estimated to be only 35 per day (see Section 4.2). This would imply a relatively small number of door openings (< 5 per hour for a shop open 8 hours) and would give rise to a high saving potential if doors are fitted.Doors can be retrofitted to some bottle coolers, but in general this opportunity is most effective when a cooler is designed to have doors.


Table 6.1: Retail Displays for Bottles

kWh per 24 hours

Capacity (number of

500 ml bottles)

RefrigerantWh per 24 hours per

bottle (full)

% compared to best

With doors

Hinged double door 4.71 480 R290 9.8 100%

Sliding double door 5.26 480 R290 11.0 112%

1.2 m double door 6.55 560 R134a 11.7 119%

Low height fast lane chiller 2.37 126 R134a 18.8 192%

Open1.3m open deck 32 450 R404A 71.1 725%

Slim open deck 19.8 240 R404A 82.5 841%

Figure 6.2: Energy savings reported in the literature – doors on chilled displays

Source: RD&T, 2014

Outside the scope of this study, the general question about the use of doors on chilled display cabinets is an interesting one. Some supermarkets are beginning to use them widely (e.g. the COOP), but some are reluctant to use doors because of the risk of losing sales. The COOP reports good customer perceptions as the “cold aisle effect” near display cabinets is eliminated and food quality is perceived as being better. Doors are also reported to reduce shop lifting. Curtains, blinds, doors and covers for refrigerated display cabinets are included on the DECC Energy Technology List, which make them eligible for an Enhanced Capital Allowance.Despite the many benefits described above it may require more positive intervention from Government to encourage or insist on the use of doors on chilled displays.

6.1.2. Opportunity 2: Best practice purchase of new equipmentThere is continuing innovation in the design of display cases, with various opportunities for improvement of efficiency. The energy efficiency of the best small integral equipment has risen significantly over the last 10 years. This is illustrated in Table 6.2 which shows data about typical equipment being manufactured in 2004 and 2014.


Table 6.2: Improvements in Equipment Efficiency

TypeTypical kWh per day for equipment made in:

% saving2004 2014

Small cooler, with doors 9.0 3.3 63%

Large cooler, with doors 15.3 6.3 59%

Open fronted cooler, 1.9m 62.5 38.7 38%

Vending machine cooler 12.0 6.6 45%

It is important that end users are strongly encouraged to only purchase the most efficient units. As discussed in 6.1.1, this implies use of doors, but there are also a number of other important design parameters that need to be optimised to minimise energy use. These include use of:

a high efficiency compressor good heat exchangers that improve the heat transfer rate and minimise the temperature difference in

the evaporator and the condenser optimised components such as expansion devices high levels of insulation high efficiency LED lights high efficiency EC fans.

The available technologies are constantly evolving. For example LED lights and EC fans have only become available in the last few years. A major compressor manufacturer announced a new “oil-free linear compressor for domestic fridges” in March 2014, claiming a 20% improvement in efficiency. Compressors of this type are applicable to bottle coolers. Table 6.1 illustrates significant variations in efficiency between 4 different units with doors – e.g. the HC hinged double door unit uses 19% less energy than the 1.2 m double door unit. The much smaller capacity low height fast lane chiller uses 92% more energy. These variations are due to a number of design differences. End users need to be made aware of these differences and the impact on lifecycle costs, which will help them select the most efficient designs available.

6.1.3. Opportunity 3: Improved controlA lot of small integral systems are left running 24 hours per day, in the same way as a domestic refrigerator. However, with the exception of fresh fruit juice, most coolers contain products that can be stored at ambient. Some companies have introduced automatic controls that reduce the running hours of the equipment to suit the trading pattern of the shop, pub or restaurant. Coolers can be switched off after the premises are closed and can be re-started with an “optimum start” algorithm, which ensures the products are at a suitable temperature when the premises open the next day.The savings achieved depend on the operating hours of the establishment and the usage pattern of the equipment. Use of controllers in the field has shown that 30% reduction in energy use is a typical expectation.A variety of controls are available, based on timer systems or on more sophisticated devices such as sensors that recognise trading activity in the vicinity of the cooler. Improved controls can be added to existing systems as well as being used on new equipment. It is important to note that it is not recommended to simply disconnect the electricity supply out-of-hours. The successful control systems automatically control the unit to minimise electricity use, taking trading patterns and bottle cooler stock levels into account. End users are advised to consult with the manufacturers’/equipment suppliers for instructions on optimal use of controllers.

6.1.4. Taking 3 steps to improved efficiencyFigure 6.3 illustrates the level of improvement that can be expected in moving from a “base case” of an older design of open case that operates 24 hours per day (typical of many systems currently in use in small shops) to a “best in class” design with good control.For end users replacing an old open fronted case with a best in class well controlled system with doors there is a realistic possibility of an 85% reduction in energy use. If an uncontrolled old unit with doors is being replaced, there is still the possibility of a saving over 50%.


These levels of saving give an indication of the excellent potential to reduce energy related emissions from small integral systems. It must be noted that the “profile” of age and design types of the small integral equipment currently in use is not well understood and was beyond the scope of research in this study. This profile has a big impact on the current carbon footprint and the potential for improvement.

6.1.6. Opportunity 4: Novel design opportunities The 3 opportunities for energy savings discussed above are based on optimal use of the best available current technologies. Further improvements may become possible as new technologies are introduced. Some of this improvement will come via “incremental” design improvements e.g. higher efficiency compressors, better heat exchangers and better insulation. More dramatic “step-change” improvements may also become available.An interesting technology that is currently under development is a rapid chilling system that can cool a can or bottle of drink in around 30 seconds. It is based on a process that involves spinning the bottle or can in a bath of iced water, using a special spinning mechanism that stops a carbonated drink fizzing when opened. The use of a rapid cool technology would allow the drinks to be sold from an ambient display case, without doors. The buyer would select a drink and place it into the rapid cool system. The system can be designed with a buffer store of, say, 5 bottles that are already cool – this would avoid the customer needing to wait for a cold bottle to be delivered.As shown in Table 4.3, the standing loads of bottle coolers are very high. A rapid chilling system would eliminate much of the standing load and has the potential to provide significant energy savings.

6.2. Small Integral Systems – Direct Emissions (Refrigerant)The direct emissions from small integral systems are relatively small at around 7,000 tonnes CO2 per year. However, the potential to reduce these emissions is excellent - the target for direct emissions from small integral systems should be a reduction of around 99%. This can be achieved over the next 10 to 15 years by using alternative ultra-low GWP refrigerants in new systems. 6.2.1. Opportunity 5: Selection of new systems with ultra-low GWPMany of the integral systems in current operation use HFCs, such as HFC 134a or HFC 404A. Wherever possible, HFCs should be avoided in new systems as alternatives with ultra-low GWP are already available for many types of integral system. There will be an even wider range of new equipment using ultra-low GWP refrigerants available over the next 2 to 3 years. Table 2.1 shows how HFCs have GWPs of over 1,000 whereas some alternatives have GWPs below 10 – use of ultra-low GWP refrigerants will virtually eliminate direct emissions. For small integral systems there will be 3 main refrigerant choices:a)HCs (hydrocarbons) are already in widespread use in bottle coolers with doors. HCs are highly flammable which is problematic for larger systems, but HCs are well suited to small integral systems with less than 150


g of refrigerant.b)CO2 is already used in some bottle coolers. CO2 is difficult to use because it operates at much higher pressures than HFCs or HCs, but it is available from some manufacturers.c)HFOs (1234yf or 1234ze) are new refrigerants with ultra-low GWP. They are not yet used in soft drink systems but are an interesting alternative to HCs or CO2 as they avoid the practical issues of high flammability (for HCs) or high pressure (for CO2). HFOs are “mildly flammable”, but they have a significantly reduced flammability risk compared to HCs. This will make them suitable for use in larger integral systems where the charge of HCs would be too high – an HFO charge of over 1 kg will be safe to use in an integral.The new F-Gas Regulation provides a strong driver to eliminate HFCs from new integral equipment. However, the ban that will apply to integral bottle coolers and vending machines does not come into force until 2022. Given that HCs are already widely available and that HFOs should enter the market by 2015, Defra need to consider policies that encourage early uptake of ultra-low GWP refrigerants in all new integral systems used in soft drinks retail and food service. Once the relevant systems are in mass production using an ultra-low GWP refrigerant, there will be little or no impact on capital cost.A crucial issue to remember when selecting an alternative refrigerant is energy efficiency. For small integral systems, the indirect energy related emissions represent 99% of total emissions. Clearly it will be counter-productive to switch to an ultra-low GWP refrigerant if energy efficiency is compromised by more than 1%.6.2.2. Opportunity 6: Ensuring HFC recovery at end-of-life It is a legal requirement under the F-Gas Regulation to recover refrigerant from old systems reaching end-of-life. However, compliance with this requirement may not be high, especially amongst small organisations (e.g. small shops, pubs etc.). In 15 years time this will become a “non-issue” as the majority of systems will be using ultra-low GWP refrigerants. In the meantime, it is important that users of HFC equipment are made fully aware of their obligation to have refrigerant recovered at end-of-life.

6.3. Opportunities for Larger Systems in Retail and Food ServiceSections 6.1 and 6.2 specifically deal with small integral systems. In this section larger refrigeration plants are discussed, including condensing units and supermarket pack systems. These large systems only represent about 10% of the indirect emissions from retail and food service refrigeration systems, but they dominate the direct emissions, being over 90% of the total.6.3.1. Indirect emissionsSome of the opportunities for improving energy efficiency are similar to those described for small integral systems – in particular doors on display cases, purchase of high efficiency systems and improved control. Retrofit of high efficiency LED lighting is also worth consideration.The efficiency of pack systems in supermarkets can often be improved by improved maintenance – for example by ensuring that the lowest possible condensing temperature is being achieved and that the suction pressure is controlled at the highest possible level.6.3.2. Direct emissionsThe direct emissions from larger systems are much higher than from integrals for 2 reasons:a)The dominant refrigerant is HFC 404A, which has an especially high GWP of 3,922 (compared to 1,430 for HFC 1343a which is the dominant refrigerant for integrals).b)Larger systems suffer much higher leakage levels than small integrals. An annual leak rate between 10% and 15% of the refrigerant charge is common (compared to less than 1% for integrals).These characteristics lead to some further opportunities that only apply to larger systems. For small integrals, the direct emissions only represent 1% of total emissions. For larger systems the direct emissions are estimated to be 33% of the total. It is clearly more important to address direct emissions from larger systems.Opportunity 7: Retrofill of HFC 404A systems with “medium” GWP alternativeR404A can be replaced in existing systems by refrigerants such as HFC 407A or HFC 407F. As shown in Table 2.1, these alternatives have about half the GWP of HFC 404A, so there is significant potential to reduce the impact of leakage emissions.For large HFC 404A systems in supermarkets there will be a legal requirement under the “service ban” in the new EU F-Gas Regulation to stop using HFC 404A for maintenance from 2020. This will create a strong stimulus to replace HFC 404A. The retrofill technique is well established – some UK supermarkets have already undertaken significant retrofill programmes. Defra should be encouraging retrofill of large systems well before 2020.For smaller condensing unit systems, a retrofill is technically feasible, but it has been shown to be less cost effective. The service ban only applies to plants containing a refrigerant charge of more than 40 tonnes CO2 equivalent – for HFC 404A this threshold is at approximately 10 kg of refrigerant. Many condensing units are


below this size threshold.Opportunity 8: Improved maintenance to reduce leakageAll systems with a refrigerant charge of over 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent will be subject to mandatory leakage checks under the new EU F-Gas Regulation. This size threshold is equivalent to 1.3 kg for HFC 404A and 3.5 kg for HFC 134a . All large supermarket systems and almost all condensing units will be above this size threshold. End users should use these mandatory leak checks as a basis for monitoring leak levels and to take appropriate steps to reduce leakage. Many supermarket companies had historic leakage rates in the range of 15% to 30% per year. Some have set up well-resourced leak reduction programmes and have reduced leaks to less than half of historic levels. A good leak reduction programme combined with HFC 404A retrofill can lead to direct emission reductions of over 75%.Opportunity 9: New equipment purchasing – choice of refrigerant As discussed under Opportunity 5, the choice of refrigerant in new systems will have a massive impact on the direct emissions over the next 15 to 20 years. For larger systems the choice of a low GWP refrigerant alternative is more complex than for small integrals, mainly because flammability is a more difficult issue with larger refrigerant charges. In the long term a move to ultra-low GWP refrigerants will become possible, driven by the new EU F-Gas Regulation. Large supermarket systems are already beginning to make widespread use of CO2. It may be more difficult to use CO2 efficiently and cost effectively in condensing units. Use of mildly flammable HFOs and HFO blends may become the best option for condensing units, although these are not yet commercially available and there is much technical development needed before this becomes clear.In the short term it is essential that very high GWP refrigerants such as HFC 404A are avoided in new systems. Use of any refrigerant with a GWP above 2,500 will be banned in all new refrigeration equipment from 2020, but in practice it is not logical to wait so long. Medium GWP alternatives such as HFCs 407A, 407F or 134a can already be used in condensing units and supermarket systems. Defra needs to consider the best way of communicating this to the soft drinks sector so that further use of HFC 404A in new systems is minimised.Opportunity 10: New equipment purchasing – leak tight design There is a good opportunity to reduce leakage from larger systems by insisting on better system design and the use of better components. One of the main UK supermarket companies has adopted this approach. Their historic leakage levels were the same as the sector average – above 20%. Through better maintenance (Opportunity 8) they have reduced this to an average of around 10%. However, in all equipment purchased in the last 4 years they have improved the design and have achieved an average leak level of around 3%. Causes of leakage are better understood since the introduction of initiatives such as the Institute of Refrigeration’s “Real Zero” programme. There is good guidance available on how to achieve more leak tight designs. Some of the most common causes of leaks to be avoided are:

Poor pipe connections such as flared joints (alternative joints are more reliable) Poorly sealed valve stems (all valves should be “capped” to avoid leakage) Poorly supported pipework suffering “catastrophic” failure through vibration.

An interesting development in the last few years is the introduction of aluminium piping and pipe components – this has the potential to result in less leakage than use of the more traditional copper piping.

7.Emission Reduction – Manufacturing Plants This section provides guidance about methods to reduce the GHG emissions from refrigeration systems used in soft drink manufacturing plants. The target audience is highly focussed. In total there are estimated to be 35 soft drink manufacturing plants in the UK. There are 26 manufacturing plants with Climate Change Agreements – these represent the bulk of UK output of most soft drinks, with the exception of bottled water plants that are not eligible for a CCA. Refrigeration is used for a number of processes in manufacturing plants, as described in Section 3.4. These processes include:a)Chilled storage in tanks or chill rooms (mainly of raw materials and of fresh juices).b)Process water cooling prior to carbonationc)Other process cooling including pasteurisation and sugar coolingd)Cooling of bottle blowing machinery.The majority of the cooling requirement can be provided with large industrial water chiller systems. Chill room cooling is usually provided by smaller condensing unit systems.


Indirect energy related emissions from manufacturing plant refrigeration are estimated to be 85% of total emissions – opportunities to reduce these emissions are described in Section 7.1. Direct refrigerant emissions account for 15% of the total and are discussed in Section 7.2.

7.1. Manufacturing Plants – Indirect Emissions (Energy)

7.1.1. Opportunity 11: Ambient Temperature CarbonationHistorically carbonation was carried out using chilled process water at around 5oC. Some carbonation processes are still carried out at this temperature, requiring the whole flow of soft drink raw materials (mainly process water) to be chilled. It is estimated that cooling of process water prior to carbonation accounts for 40% of the cooling requirement in UK soft drink manufacturing plants.Improvements in carbonator and filling system design allow the carbonation process to be carried out with warmer water at up to 15oC to 20oC. The maximum acceptable temperature depends on various factors including the equipment design, the type of drink being carbonated and the rate of package filling. For a towns water supply, the incoming water temperature varies seasonally. In the UK the annual average is around 10oC with a peak summer temperature of around 16oC. Water treatment processes can add 2 to 3 deg C to the incoming water temperature. Worst practice carbonation: Water is all cooled to 5oC with refrigeration all year round.Best practice carbonation: Carbonation carried out at up to 20oC. No cooling required even in summer.“Intermediate” options: If it is too difficult to carbonate at 20oC, there is still significant savings possible with carbonation in the 10oC to 15oC range:

If carbonation is done at 15oC, no cooling is required for 10 months of the year and the load is small under peak summer conditions. Annual refrigeration cooling requirement is reduced by 95% compared to worst practice.

If carbonation is done at 10oC, no cooling is required for 5 months of the year. Annual refrigeration cooling requirement is reduced by 65% compared to worst practice.

7.1.2. Opportunity 12: Improved sugar cooling systemsSugar is an important ingredient for many non-diet soft drinks. Solid sugar is dissolved in batches at around 65oC and then cooled to the carbonation temperature prior to blending with other ingredients and with process water. In some soft drink plants the sugar cooling is all carried out using refrigerated chilled water.Worst practice sugar cooling: Sugar is cooled from 65oC to 15oC with refrigeration all year round.Best practice sugar cooling: Sugar cooling is carried out via “regenerative heat exchange”. Incoming cold water (for the next batch of sugar to be processed) is used to cool down the outgoing hot sugar solution in a plate heat exchanger. Refrigeration demand falls to zero for about half of the year (when the water is at 10oC or lower). The annual refrigeration cooling requirement is reduced by 95% compared to worst practice. An important secondary benefit is a saving in heat demand – the incoming water is heated to around 60oC in the regenerative plate heat exchanger, saving around 90% of the energy required to heat the process water.“Intermediate” option: If it is too difficult to modify the process to allow use of a regenerative heat recovery system it is also possible to use cooling tower water to “pre-cool” the hot sugar, which eliminates most of the cooling demand. Annual refrigeration cooling requirement is reduced by 90% compared to worst practice.

7.1.3. Opportunity 13: Pasteuriser coolingPasteurisation involves heating a soft drink product to about 80oC and then cooling it back to ambient. Pasteurisation is either done prior to packaging using plate heat exchangers or it is carried out after packaging.Worst practice pasteurisation: The drink is heated from start temperature (e.g. 5oC for a juice product) to the target temperature (e.g. 80oC) using hot water from a gas-fired boiler. The hot drink is then chilled from 80oC to ambient (e.g. 15oC) using refrigerated chilled water.Best practice pasteurisation: Pasteurisation is carried out in a regenerative plate heat exchanger. Incoming cold juice is used to cool down the outgoing hot juice. This eliminates the whole of the refrigeration load and reduces the heating load by around 90%.“Intermediate” options: Best practice is only possible if the product is pasteurised outside the package. This may not be possible for all packaging types (although it is worth noting that milk is always pasteurised prior to packaging). If a packaged product must be cooled then a pre-cooling step should be undertaken using cooling tower water, with a final stage of cooling using chilled water. This can reduce the annual refrigerated cooling requirement by around 90%, although it provides no heat saving. Another option is to have a series


of heating and cooling zones that can incorporate some heat recovery, which can reduce both the heating and cooling demands. However, this is very complex and expensive and is unlikely to be possible except on new plant.

7.1.4. Opportunity 14: Bottle blower coolingPET bottles are manufactured in 2 stages. Plastic “pre-forms” are made in an injection moulding machine and these are then blown into bottles using compressed air. Bottles used to be manufactured at a specialist supplier’s site, but the recent trend is to blow bottles at the bottling plant to minimise transport costs. Some bottling plants carry out the whole process on-site, whilst the majority import the pre-forms and only carry out the blowing stage.Both the injection moulding and the bottle blowing stages of manufacture require cooling, which is usually provided using chilled water. The key to achieving maximum efficiency is to use cooling water at the highest practical temperature. Worst practice: Using very cold refrigerated water at around 5oC for all cooling operations.Best practice: Using cooling tower water where possible and where necessary using refrigerated water at the highest temperature, e.g. 12oC. Cooling tower water can be used for hydraulic system cooling (required for the injection moulding stage). The water temperature required for the injection and blowing moulds depends on the design of the machinery – it is worth discussing the maximum temperature level that is acceptable with the machinery manufacturer. Using cooling tower water when possible and water at 12oC could save at least 30% compared to use of 5oC water.

7.1.5. Opportunity 15: General good practice for industrial refrigeration Opportunities 11 to 14 are specific to the soft drinks process and are aimed at reducing the amount of refrigerated cooling required. Once the cooling load has been minimised it is important that the refrigeration plant is designed and operated for maximum efficiency. There are numerous energy efficiency opportunities described in the literature (e.g. FDF Refrigeration Efficiency Initiative, 2008). Some areas for efficiency optimisation include:a)Improved metering and data analysis. It is surprising how few industrial refrigeration plants have comprehensive metering of energy use and operating conditions (e.g. evaporating and condensing temperatures). On a large system it is crucial that regular data is collected and that energy performance is assessed against relevant influencing factors such as product throughput and ambient temperature. Regular performance analysis helps identify maintenance and operational issues that can waste significant amounts of energy.b)Purchase of plant for high efficiency. There can be big variations in efficiency related to the type of refrigeration equipment purchased. When old plant is reaching end-of-life it is important to recognise that the best available technology for water chilling can use half the energy of a cheaper less efficient plant.c)Use of variable speed drives. Chilled water systems require large pumps to circulate water through the chiller and around the site to the relevant loads. Pumps create a double energy penalty, as the electricity used to drive the pump becomes waste heat in the chilled water loop, which increases the refrigeration load. Use of VSDs can reduce the pump power considerably, especially when operating under part load conditions. VSDs may also be applicable on condenser fans and for compressor part load control.

7.2. Manufacturing Plants – Direct Emissions (Refrigerant)The most commonly used refrigerants in soft drink manufacturing plants are HFCs (including 134a, 407C, 410A and 404A) and ammonia.Where ammonia is used there are no direct GHG emissions, as the GWP is 0. For HFC systems there are some leakage emissions and a risk of emissions during plant servicing and at end-of-life. Significant reductions in direct emissions will occur over the next 10 to 15 years as the EU F-Gas Regulation leads to a reduced supply of HFCs. An emission reduction of between 80% and 90% should be possible in manufacturing plants.Opportunity 16: New Equipment PurchasingWhen new systems are being purchased an ultra-low GWP refrigerant should be selected where possible. For large water chillers the 2 main ultra-low GWP options are:

Ammonia – this is a good option as the GWP is zero and best practice designs are very efficient. However, ammonia plants can be much more expensive to buy than HFC plants.

HFO 1234ze – this is a new refrigerant that has been used in chillers since 2013. It is likely that many new models of water chiller using HFO 1234ze will be introduced by 2015, in response to the EU F-Gas Regulation. Other new HFO refrigerants may be introduced for use in water chillers


during the next few years (e.g. HFO 1336mzz was announced in Spring 2014).In smaller chillers HFC 32, which only has a GWP of 675 may be an appropriate choice in the future, although few models will be available before 2015.HFC 404A should be avoided in all new systems. This is a refrigerant with a very high GWP of 3,922. There are suitable alternatives for all soft drinks applications already available. Under the EU F-Gas Regulation, use of HFC 404A to service existing refrigeration equipment will be banned in 2020. It makes no sense to buy new plant that will be subject to a service ban in 5 years time. In the short term medium GWP refrigerants such as HFCs 134a, 407A or 407F should be considered if an ultra-low GWP refrigerant is not suitable. These have GWPs in the range 1400 to 2100. In the medium term (e.g. by 2016) various other new alternatives should be available with GWPs in the 200 to 600 range. When purchasing new equipment it is important to ensure that every effort has been made to design the plant for very low leakage.

Opportunity 17: Retrofill of HFC 404A systemsFrom 2020 it will be illegal to service HFC systems if they contain more than 40 tonnes CO2 equivalent of a refrigerant with a GWP above 2,500 (this threshold is 10 kg for HFC 404A). This rule will affect most existing HFC 404A systems in manufacturing plants. If the plant is already near end-of-life, it may be best to replace the plant with a new one. For younger equipment it is possible to retrofill the plant using HFC 407A or 407F. This will cut direct emissions by 50% and can lead to a slight improvement in energy efficiency.

Opportunity 18: Improved maintenance to reduce leakageAll systems with a refrigerant charge of over 5 tonnes CO2 equivalent are subject to mandatory leakage checks under the EU F-Gas Regulation. This size threshold is equivalent to 1.3 kg for HFC 404A and 3.5 kg for HFC 134a. Almost all refrigeration systems in manufacturing plants will be well above this size threshold. End users should use these mandatory leak checks as a basis for monitoring leak levels and to take appropriate steps to reduce leakage. Many industrial refrigeration systems had historic leakage rates in the range of 10% to 20% per year. Some have set up well-resourced leak reduction programmes and have reduced leaks to less than half of historic levels. It is a legal requirement to ensure that refrigerant is recovered during plant servicing and at end-of-life decommissioning. Manufacturing plant operators need to be aware of this requirement and must ensure that suitably qualified technicians carry out refrigerant recovery. Recovered refrigerant must be treated as a waste – it can either be destroyed (through incineration) or can be sent to a specialist for reprocessing into “reclaimed” refrigerant.

8.Key Findings and Recommendations

Key FindingsThe analysis in this study has highlighted the GHG “hot spots” related to the use of refrigeration in the soft drinks supply chain. Some key findings from the analysis include:1)Retail and food service systems dominate the overall carbon footprint, representing 92% of the total GHG emissions (see Figure 4.1). This is an important finding and it provides clear focus for future work.2)The energy related indirect emissions are dominant across most of the supply chain, representing 93% of total emissions. 3)An important “hotspot” for direct emissions is the larger retail equipment used in supermarkets and convenience stores (pack systems and condensing units). These represent 75% of all direct emissions.4)Retail and food service refrigeration systems are used in a wide range of types of establishment including:

Food service: pubs, hotels, restaurants, fast food outlets, leisure facilities, schools, hospitals, staff canteens etc.

Retail: supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol forecourts, small shops (e.g. newsagents, bakeries).

It is estimated that around 350,000 separate establishments sell soft drinks (see Table 4.2).5)There are very large numbers of small systems used in retail and food service. Table 4.2 shows an estimate of 775,000 systems including bottle coolers, draught dispense systems and vending machines.6)The majority of the retail and food service systems are small integral systems. Around 30,000 systems use larger equipment including condensing units and centralised pack systems. These represent about 10% of


the energy related indirect emissions from retail and food service. Because of the design characteristics of the various types of equipment used, the 30,000 larger systems account for about 90% of the direct emissions from retail and food service.7)Industrial refrigeration systems used in manufacturing plants are used for a number of important processing operations. These industrial systems represent about 4% of the total GHG emissions. There are around 35 manufacturing plants in the UK, with over half being owned by 5 major multi-site soft drink manufacturers. 8)There are various drivers and barriers to the implementation of emission reduction opportunities discussed in Section 5. 9)The new F-Gas Regulation is a key driver in relation to direct emissions – it is reasonable to target a 90% reduction in direct emissions over the next 15 to 20 years.10) For indirect emissions, the drivers are less powerful. The increasing price of electricity is the most important driver, together with CSR programmes in big corporates in the sector. Government energy saving programmes including CCAs and CRC also provide a useful incentive.11) A key barrier is lack of awareness of the many different emission reduction opportunities. This is exacerbated by rapid technology change, both in relation to improvements in energy efficiency and availability of ultra-low GWP refrigerants.12) There are excellent opportunities to reduce emissions from all parts of the supply chain. A wide range of different emission reduction techniques are discussed in Sections 6 and 7. A summary of these opportunities is given in Table 8.1.

Table 8.1: Summary of Emission Reduction Opportunities


Ret

ail a

nd F

ood

Serv

ice Indirect Emissions



3 Improved control


Direct Emissions Integrals



Direct Emissions – larger systems

7 Retrofill of HFC 404A with “medium” GWP alternative




Man

ufac

turin

g Pl

ants

Indirect Emissions






Direct Emissions

16 New Equipment Purchasing



13) The overall emission reduction potential in the biggest sector – retail and food service – depends on the age and design profile of existing systems. Figure 6.3 (copied below) illustrates that if older open fronted bottle coolers are replaced with “best-in-class” coolers with doors and good control, an energy saving of 85% is possible. If older coolers with doors are replaced with best-in-class there is still a substantial saving


available – well over 50%.

14) An interesting finding of the study is the relatively high proportion of “standing load” there is for bottle coolers and vending machines (see Table 6.2). The average sales of bottles through such equipment is quite low (estimated at 35 per day), hence the average product load is also low. The standing load is especially high for open fronted coolers (>98%) but is also high for coolers with doors (>95%).15) The ease of access (to provide information and support) varies across different parts of the supply chain:

There is excellent access to manufacturing plants (there are only a small number and the majority are in a CCA, which gives a relevant point of contact at each plant).

There is good access to some parts of the retail and food service sector through large multiple chains such as supermarkets, petrol station chains, newsagent chains, hotel and pub chains etc.

There is very poor access to other parts of the retail and food service sector, where ownership is very fragmented e.g. small shops, independent restaurants and hotels, franchised operations etc.

Recommendations for Further ActivitiesGiven the fact that there are already a number of strong regulatory drivers in place (including new EU F-Gas Regulation, CCAs, CRC and ESOS) it is not appropriate to consider new regulatory initiatives at this stage. What is most important is to address some of the barriers, in particular those related to lack of awareness.It is recommended that the findings of this study are used to stimulate the dissemination of relevant information to different parts of the supply chain. In particular:

a) Provide targeted information to manufacturing plant operators, based on the opportunities discussed in Section 7. Clear guidance on the new EU F-Gas Regulation and how it affects industrial refrigeration plants will be very useful. It will be helpful to coordinate with F-Gas team at Defra who will also be trying to disseminate information about the Regulation. The various energy saving opportunities deserve more detailed investigation at individual site level, possibly via a coordinated review of manufacturing sites organised through BSDA or via the FDF Climate Change Agreement. Manufacturing plant operators should be encouraged to consider the findings of this study when carrying out ESOS energy assessments, which must be completed by December 2015.

b) Identify relevant contacts in key multiple chains and provide targeted information about opportunities related to food service and retail systems. Again, clear guidance of the impact of the new EU F-Gas Regulation on small integral systems and larger condensing unit and pack systems will be helpful. Guidance on energy saving opportunities, especially related to best practice purchase of new equipment will also be very important.

c) Consider the best way of providing information to the more fragmented parts of the food service and retail sectors. This is potentially the most challenging action as there are such a large number of organisations that need to be made more aware of the key opportunities.

d) Consider the barriers to using doors on bottle coolers via discussions with industry experts. It is worth noting that some fleet operators have almost eliminated open fronted bottle coolers, but that they seem to be much more widespread in the more fragmented parts of the market e.g. small newsagents etc. Also consider the wider implications of doors on chill cabinets used for food sales, especially in supermarkets and convenience stores. There is significant potential for reducing UK electricity demand, but significant reluctance from some retailers to “go-it-alone”. A voluntary agreement related to use doors (as introduced in some other countries) could reduce the fears of lost


sales.e) Analysis of bottle cooler loads show that the “product load” is very small and that “standing loads” are

dominant – representing 95% to 99% of the electricity used (see Table 4.3, the variation depends on level of sales and whether the cooler has doors). Consider the potential to reduce standing loads, possibly via expert discussions coordinated by BSDA. As part of this investigation, consider the potential to use the new rapid bottle cooler technology to reduce the need for so many bottle coolers that have high levels of standing load.

f) Establish a way of sharing information about on-going technical developments related to improved energy efficiency and availability of new refrigerants with low GWP. There are rapid developments being made and the latest information needs to be shared with numerous end users in different parts of the soft drinks supply chain.

Appendix A: Literature Review SourcesThere is a significant body of literature available that describes the opportunities to reduce GHG emissions from refrigeration systems. The key sources reviewed during this project included:1.Britvic Soft Drinks Review, 21032.BSDA UK Soft Drinks Report, 20133.BSDA Sustainability Progress Report, 20124.Climate Change Agreement data (energy data and production data from 26 soft drink manufacturing plants), 20135.Defra Food Pocket Book, 20136.Eco-efficiency study in supermarket refrigeration (SKM Enviros, 2010)7.EU F-Gas Regulation, Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 12 March 2014 – text of the new Regulation 8.EU F-Gas Regulation 842/2006 – text of existing Regulation 9.Food and Drink Industry Refrigeration Efficiency Initiative (FDF and others, 2007)10.A Food Vision (British Frozen Food federation, 2010)11.Good Practice Guides on refrigeration (CT, various dates)12.Horizon, UK Food service Industry in 2011, 201213.IGD Research, UK Grocery Retailing, 200914.IOR paper on impact of refrigeration on energy use in food (Garnett, 2007)15.Publications on new refrigerants from various manufacturers16.Real Zero campaign information and literature (IOR, CT, various dates)17.Refrigeration road map for the food retail sector (IOR, BRA, CT, 2010)18.SKM Enviros project for Defra, Environmental Impacts of the Food Service Sector, 200919.SKM Enviros project for Defra, Examination of the Global Warming Potential of Refrigeration in the Food Chain, 201120.Study on reducing energy inputs into refrigeration of food (FRPERC and others, 2009)21.UK F Gas inventory (AEA Technology, 2010)

Appendix B: Temperature MapsThe temperature information discussed in Section 3.8 can be used to create “temperature maps” for the product lifecycle. These highlight where products are repeatedly cooled or where refrigerated cooling takes place above ambient.Figure B.1 shows a carbonated product in a can or PET bottle. Figure B.1a shows “worst practice” where carbonation takes place at 5oC and Figure B.1b shows “better practice”, with carbonation at 15oC.


Figure B.2 illustrates a pasteurised product. A key aspect of the design of bottling process is to maximise the amount of free cooling used to cool the hot pasteurised product.

0

5

10

15

20

25

Incoming water Carbonation Product storage Final consumption

Tem

pera

ture

, oC

Fig B.1b Carbonated Drink, better practice


Appendix C: Glossary of Terms

BSDA British Soft Drinks Association

Bottle coolers Refrigerated display units used to store bottles or cans of soft drinks in a chilled condition prior to sale. Used widely in retail premises and in food service operations.

Some bottle coolers are “open” or “open deck”. These have no doors and are commonly found in supermarkets and small shops.

Some bottle coolers are fitted with glass doors.

CCA Climate Change Agreement – a DECC scheme to incentivise energy efficiency in energy intensive manufacturing operations

Central refrigeration system

A large refrigeration system e.g. for a big supermarket or large industrial load. Requires major on-site assembly of refrigerant pipework at installation.

Condensing unit A type of refrigeration system used for small cooling loads e.g. display cases in a small shop or a small chill store. Requires some on-site assembly of refrigerant pipework at installation.

CRC Carbon Reduction Commitment – a DECC scheme to incentivise energy efficiency in large non-energy intensive organisations

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility – programmes in companies to address issues such as environmental impact

DECC Department of Energy and Climate Change

Direct emissions Emissions of GHGs directly from a refrigeration plant – through leakage of refrigerant during normal operation or during plant installation, maintenance or decommissioning.

Draught dispense Systems used in pubs and restaurants to create a soft drink on demand from concentrated syrup that is mixed with chilled water and carbonated at point of use.

EC fans Electronically commutated fans – very efficient for small motors

ESOS Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme – a DECC requirement for mandatory energy audits under EU Energy Efficiency Directive

FC From Concentrate. Fruit juice products using a concentrated raw material

F-Gas Regulation EU Fluorinated Gases Regulation. An EU Regulation that is aimed at reducing the emissions of F-Gases, which include HFCs.

Food service All premises that sell food and drink for consumption on the premises. Includes pubs, restaurants, fast food, hotels, leisure facilities, staff canteens, schools, hospitals etc.

GHG Greenhouse gas. Substances that make a contribution to global warming. HFC refrigerants are very powerful GHGs.

GWP Global Warming Potential. A measure of the impact of a chemical on global warming. CO2 has a GWP defined as 1. Most HFCs have GWPs in the range 1,000 to 4,000

HFC Hydro-fluoro-carbons – a family of chemicals with very high GWPs.


Used widely as refrigerants e.g. HFC 404A, HFC 134a

HFO Hydro-fluoro-olefins – a family of chemicals recently introduced as possible alternatives to HFCs.

Indirect emissions Emissions of GHGs associated with the electricity used by a refrigeration system. The “indirect” emissions take place at the power station supplying electricity.

Integral hermetically sealed refrigeration system

Used for very small refrigeration systems including domestic refrigerators and bottle coolers. Totally sealed system, factory built, requiring no assembly work during installation

LED lights Light emitting diode – very efficient new type of lighting

Manufacturing plants Factories producing and packaging soft drinks

NFC Not From Concentrate. Fruit juice products based on normal concentration raw material

PET Polyethylene terephthalate – a type of plastic used for soft drink bottles

Retail All premises that sell food and drink for consumption off the premises. Includes supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol stations, newsagents, bakeries etc.

Vendor An automatic vending machine selling chilled soft drinks


References to published material9. This section should be used to record links (hypertext links where possible) or references to other

published material generated by, or relating to this project.

Appendix A: Literature Review SourcesThere is a significant body of literature available that describes the opportunities to reduce GHG emissions from refrigeration systems. The key sources reviewed during this project included:1.Britvic Soft Drinks Review, 21032.BSDA UK Soft Drinks Report, 20133.BSDA Sustainability Progress Report, 20124.Climate Change Agreement data (energy data and production data from 26 soft drink manufacturing plants), 20135.Defra Food Pocket Book, 20136.Eco-efficiency study in supermarket refrigeration (SKM Enviros, 2010)7.EU F-Gas Regulation, Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 12 March 2014 – text of the new Regulation 8.EU F-Gas Regulation 842/2006 – text of existing Regulation 9.Food and Drink Industry Refrigeration Efficiency Initiative (FDF and others, 2007)10.A Food Vision (British Frozen Food federation, 2010)11.Good Practice Guides on refrigeration (CT, various dates)12.Horizon, UK Food service Industry in 2011, 201213.IGD Research, UK Grocery Retailing, 200914.IOR paper on impact of refrigeration on energy use in food (Garnett, 2007)15.Publications on new refrigerants from various manufacturers16.Real Zero campaign information and literature (IOR, CT, various dates)17.Refrigeration road map for the food retail sector (IOR, BRA, CT, 2010)18.SKM Enviros project for Defra, Environmental Impacts of the Food Service Sector, 200919.SKM Enviros project for Defra, Examination of the Global Warming Potential of Refrigeration in the Food Chain, 201120.Study on reducing energy inputs into refrigeration of food (FRPERC and others, 2009)21.UK F Gas inventory (AEA Technology, 2010)


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